5 Tricks to Boost Your Credit Score

5 Tricks to Boost Your Credit Score

Milad Hassibi June 30, 2018

Whether you are looking to buy a new car or rent an apartment, credit scores affect almost every single money-related aspect of our lives. Having a healthy credit score will make it much easier and less expensive to borrow the money you need.

Check Your Scores

Your credit score is the result of the inputs that are on your credit report. The 3 credit bureaus in charge of credit scores and reports often have mistakes in their reports, so it’s important to check and see if your credit report has an error. You can use Credit Sesame’s new credit monitoring tool to keep track of your credit score for free.

If you find an error, file a dispute with the credit bureau that provided your credit report. Once you file a report, the bureau will have 30 days to respond. If the bureau cannot prove the debt is yours or who owns the debt, the negative entry will be removed.

Authorized User

Being an authorized user is a great way to increase your credit score. To become an authorized user, ask a family member or close friend with good credit to add you as a user on their card. Although the card issuer may mail you a credit card, you are not required to use it to experience the benefits of being an authorized user. As long as the main account holder pays their bills on time and in full, your score will increase.

Increase Your Limits

Credit utilization is defined as how much of your available credit you use. Ideally, experts agree that consumers should use only 30% of their available credit. If you go over 30%, your credit score will drop. To combat this, call your credit card company and ask for a credit limit increase. This way, your utilization will drop and your score will increase.

Utilities

Utilities are something every renter and homeowner must pay for. If you have a close friend or family member that pays for their own utilities, ask to be included on their bill. When your friend or family member makes their payments on time, your credit score will go up due to the positive payment history.

Final Note

Having a less than ideal credit score can make everything in life much harder. By taking the steps outlined in this article, you should see a rise in your credit score over a short period of time. Thankfully, there are many free tools that will allow you to track and monitor the progress of your credit.